May 30, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

The US is compiling information on the drone attack in Moscow, a National Security Council spokesperson said, while stressing the US does not back attacks in Russia.

Russia blamed Ukraine for the drone attack in Moscow, while Ukraine has denied any direct involvement.

The NSC spokesperson also criticized Russia for launching an overnight aerial assault on Kyiv — the 17th this month.

"Russia started this unprovoked war against Ukraine. Russia could end it at any time by withdrawing its forces from Ukraine instead of launching brutal attacks against Ukraine’s cities and people every day," the spokesperson said.

In a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz denounced the latest Russian airstrikes on civilian targets in Ukraine, a statement from the chancellor’s office said.

According to the statement, Zelensky thanked Germany for its military support, in particular for strengthening Ukrainian air defenses. Scholz vowed to continue to provide support to Ukraine "in close coordination with European and international partners," the statement added.

Scholz reaffirmed "Germany's unwavering solidarity with Ukraine in the face of aggression by the Russian Federation," according to the statement. 

At least one person died in Kyiv after Ukrainian air defenses shot down drones early Tuesday in the 17th aerial assault launched by Russian forces at the capital during this month alone.

The Russian Interior Ministry has placed two senior Ukrainian figures on its wanted list — hours after a series of drone attacks in the Moscow region:

The Investigative Committee of Russia is also investigating Syrskyi and Zaluzhnyi for the shelling of “civilians and civilian facilities in Donbas.”

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that Western countries are not tiring on providing aid to Ukraine. 

During an event in Oslo, Norway, the NATO secretary general stressed that support for Ukraine is being "stepped up." 

The NATO chief maintained that there is still "strong cross-party support across NATO allies both in Europe and the USA." Stoltenberg added that despite having "different voices" and opinions on the issue of support for Ukraine, there remains predominantly a "political will to stand by Ukraine." 

In a news conference last month, Stoltenberg had emphasized that NATO allies were united in supporting Ukraine and would "not be intimidated" from doing so. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for the drone attack in the Moscow region, calling it a "clear sign of terrorist activity."

"Kyiv chose the path of intimidation of Russian citizens and attacks on residential buildings," he said, adding: "We are concerned about attempts to evoke a response from Russia. It seems that is what they [Ukraine] want ... Kyiv provokes us to mirror actions. We will see what to do about this."

The Russian president said the city's air defenses worked normally.

Putin suggested that the drone attacks had been in response to recent Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure.

"The Russian Armed Forces strike exclusively with long-range high-precision weapons and only at military infrastructure facilities. Of course, some portion of these strikes is aimed at the military headquarters as well as headquarters of the Ukrainian military intelligence, which was hit two to three days ago," he said.

In just the past few days, Russia has hit a medical facility in Dnipro and launched more than 50 drones at Kyiv.

Ukraine has not commented on any strike against the headquarters of its military intelligence.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it can implement “the most severe measures” after drone attacks on Moscow. 

“Assurances from NATO officials that the Kyiv regime will not strike deep into Russian territory turn out to be completely hypocritical,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. 

Ukraine has denied direct involvement with the attack on the Russian capital.

Russian authorities say eight drones were intercepted in the Moscow region. The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case on the matter. 

The Russian Defense Ministry reported an attack Tuesday involving eight drones, with five of them shot down by air defenses and the other three suppressed by electronic warfare systems.

Some were downed in the elite Moscow suburb of Rublyovka, which is in close proximity to one of President Vladimir Putin’s official residences, Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein said earlier Tuesday.

The drones, which Moscow claims were Ukrainian, that attacked Moscow probed Russia's air defense vulnerabilities, said unmanned aviation expert Denis Fedutinov, who has been quoted frequently by state news agency TASS in the past.

"The aim of the raid was probably to ferret out the Moscow air defenses and reveal their vulnerabilities. Apparently, several objectives were pursued. Primarily, testing various unmanned systems in practice. Secondly, looking at the efficiency of using several drones at a time," he explained, according to TASS.

CNN is not able to independently verify those assessments. Ukraine has denied any direct involvement in the attack. 

Fedutinov alleged that aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) weighing up to several dozen kilograms and featuring the canard aerodynamic design were used in the drone attack on Moscow. He told TASS that the combustion engine used in such UAVs enables them to perform quite lengthy flights, including the capacity to reach Moscow from Ukrainian territory. 

"This UAV model could have been created both directly in Ukraine — the country has specialists and the workforce capable of coping with this task — and could represent an imported civilian drone bought on the open market and adapted for combat use," he said. 

The governor of Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said there have been dozens of strikes against several areas of the region by Ukrainian mortar and artillery fire over the last 24 hours — by far the highest reported number in a single day.

Vyacheslav Gladkov said that 155 hits were recorded in the Shebekinsky district alone.

"Six mortar shells were fired at the checkpoint. 48 shells - 39 artillery and 9 mortar shells - were fired at the town of Shebekino," he said on Telegram.

A power transmission line was damaged and a gas pipeline ruptured, he added.

Gladkov said the village of Grafovka was shelled with artillery, killing one man and seriously injuring his wife. In the village of Zhuravlevka, Gladkov said 20 hits had been recorded, but there had been no casualties or damage.

In the township of Graivoron, which is near the Ukrainian border, "39 hits were recorded," Gladkov said. "Twelve mortar shells were fired at the village of Kozinka and seven at the checkpoint. There were no casualties," he added.

He said 16 houses were destroyed in the area.

Other villages were hit, Gladkov said, and a Ukrainian drone had been shot down near the village of Chapayevsky. Other drones had been shot down or failed to do any damage, he continued.

Key context: The region of Belgorod has seen a growing incidence of cross-border fire, in both directions, as well as incursions yesterday and last week from Ukraine by groups calling themselves anti-President Vladimir Putin Russian nationals. 

Several drones were downed in the elite Moscow suburb of Rublyovka, which is in close proximity to one of President Vladimir Putin’s official residences, Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein said Tuesday.

Here are some of the locations where downed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Moscow region crashed, according to a list published by State Duma Deputy Khinshtein:

CNN has geolocated footage from Ilyinskoye that shows a drone flying across the sky.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, "I cannot comment. The only thing [I can say] is that it was obviously an attack of the Kyiv regime."

Rublyovka is a spoken name for a prestigious and affluent neighborhood in Moscow along the Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Highway. It is known for its luxurious residential estates and mansions for the Russian elite: wealthy businessmen, politicians, and celebrities.